PROPOSED YOUTH JAIL GETS THUMBS DOWN

Karen Brandon and James Hill, Tribune Staff WritersCHICAGO TRIBUNE

A tax increase that would have paid for an expanded Lake County juvenile detention center was overwhelmingly rejected by voters, despite a vigorous campaign by the county's most prominent officials in support of the measure.

Unofficial returns from almost three-fourths of 382 precincts showed 72 percent of those voting on the proposal rejected it.

Lake County State's Atty. Michael Waller, a strong backer of the center, conceded defeat soon after the polls closed.

"My biggest fear," Waller said Tuesday, "is that people will ask tomorrow, `What happened to the juvenile (center) referendum? I didn't see it on the ballot.' In fact, people were coming out of the polling places today saying that."

Waller's gloomy comments alluded to a key question on the juvenile spending referendum proposal about whether supporters of the tax increase had done the job of educating voters to recognize the issue when they opened their ballots.

The highest profile referendum question in one respect also was the county's most obscure, since state law limited its language to pose a question that made no mention of the center, asking: "Shall the extension limitation under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Act for the County of Lake be increased from 2.7 percent to 8.7 percent for the 1994 levy year?"

The $8.8 million referendum proposal would have provided funding for a bootcamp-type incarceration program for non-violent juvenile offenders and more courts to handle an increasing caseload.

As a countywide issue, the request for more tax funds to improve the juvenile justice system led the referendum ballot. But voters also decided several other local spending proposals, as well as choosing to keep alive the Chain-O-Lakes Fox River Waterway Management Agency, the group responsible for maintaining and improving the river and lakes for recreation and local residents.

With at least 75 percent of the unofficial vote counted, more than three-fourths of the voters from near the Fox River and Chain o' Lakes in northern Lake and McHenry Counties cast ballots in favor of maintaining the agency. If the majority had voted otherwise, the state would have taken over the group's responsibilities.

Other matters before Lake County voters included fundraising proposals in six school districts. They were:

- Antioch High School District 117. With at least 75 percent of the unofficial returns counted, there was a dead heat on whether to approve an education spending referendum initiative for the first time since 1972.

- Diamond Lake District 76 voters approved a $2.7 million bond issue for additions to two schools by a wide margin. Final unofficial returns showed 70 percent of voters favored the measure.

- Emmons District 33 sought a $1.4 million bond issue for additions and renovations to the only school in the district. Similar requests twice have failed to win voter approval, and unofficial returns Tuesday night were too sparse to indicate which way the latest voting was going.

- Gavin District 37 sought a $7.3 million bond issue for building to relieve overcrowding. With unofficial returns from at least 75 percent of the area precincts, the spending proposal was losing 53 percent to 47 percent.

- Grayslake Community Consolidated School District 46 sought approval of two measures: a $2.9 million bond issue for repairs, improvements and furnishings for two schools; and a proposition to increase the maximum annual educational tax rate. Unofficial results were to sparse to indicate how the voting went.

- Kildeer Countryside District 96 voters apparently passed a $1.5 million bond issue for a middle school addition. With at least 75 percent of the unofficial vote counted, 69 percent of those voting on the issue cast ballots in favor of the proposal.

Other referendum issues included:

- The most expensive bond issue proposal in the county in Wauconda Township, where a handful of unofficial returns Tuesday night did not indicate whether voters had authorized local officials to issue $9 million in bonding authority to build 50 housing units for seniors.

- Barrington Park District, in Lake and Cook Counties, lost its request for a $6.5 million bond issue to acquire and equip a golf course as a public facility.

- The Indian Trails Public Library District, in south Lake County and northern Cook County, asked voters to increase the library's tax rate. With at least 75 percent of precincts reporting, opponents of the spending measure were winning 53 percent to 47 percent.

- The Warren Newport Public Library District proposal to increase the tax rate appeared assured of passage.